The Drunken Polack

Surly Hell - Before I get started with any kind of reviews, I’d like to thanks Aaron over at The Captains Chair for providing both of these beers.  It’s great try beers I normally couldn’t get a hold of.  Thanks bud.

Surly Hell is one of the newest brews from Surly out of Minnesota.  The brewery who loves to can all their stuff!  Except Darkness of course.  This time around they went with a sessionable brew.  A Helles lager to be exact.  Since I’m not really a lager drinker I had to look up what to expect fromt his style of beer.  Straight from Beer Advocate I got this description.

“When the golden and clean lagers of Plzen (Bohemia) became all the rage in the mid-1800′s, München brewers feared that Germans would start drinking the Czech beer vs. their own. Munich Helles Lager was their answer to meet the demand. A bit more malty, they often share the same spicy hop characters of Czech Pils, but are a bit more subdued and in balance with malts. “Helles” is German for “bright.”

Ok so now I have an idea of what to expect?  Well what did I get?  Read on.

Surly Hell pours clear golden color.  Nice fluffy white two finger head.  Great retention and minimal lacing.  Smell is what you usually expect from a lager.  Well most lagers, Southern Tier Krampus is a exception to the rule =)  The smell is grainy, malty, and grassy.  I also picked up a bit of a fruity aroma.  Very sweet aroma and very malty.

Taste really isn’t much to write home about.  Don’t expect a huge flavorful ale kind of taste here.  Because well that’s not what they were trying to do here.  They tried to create a nice sessionable and enjoyable brew and they did a hell of a job doing so.  Up front from me what the grassy hoppy flavor followed by the nice little fruity taste.  The ending is mostly a yeasty and bready grainy taste.   The mouthfeel is light and crisp.  Like I said sessionable.  I could pound down a six pack of this stuff and not even blink.

I like what Surly did here.  They made a nice drinkable beer available during the Summer.  For those hot days.  How hot does Summer in Minnesota get anyway?

Found: Beer Trade
Price: Not to sure on this one.
Website: http://www.surlybrewing.com/
What the company says: Finally, a Surly beer my German mother will drink. She says this one tastes like a bier from back home. Not unlike a Zwickel Bier from Germany, Hell is our filtered and fermented with lager yeast, American hops takes a back seat to the Pils malt sweetness and fresh bread aroma. The color is well… hell (Deutsch for light). It’s fiendishly drinkable, and you don’t have to sell your soul to get another.
ABV%: 4.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Surly Furious, Surly Bender
Other beers to try within the same style: First time I’ve had a beer in this style
Rating: B

New Glarus Unplugged Cran-bic Ale - Oh New Glarus.  What you do with fruit just makes me a happy camper.  I was blown away by their Wisconsin Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart.  This time around they are working with Cranberries.  This time they made a Lambic that has been pitched with cranberries and aged outside in oak barrels.  It’s light, funky, tart and just a beautiful beer.

Cranic pours a mixture of light red and amber.  Really a beautiful color that you can see in the pic.  A small head forms but quickly fizzes away like a champagne.  First thing I noticed in the smell is a light fresh dose of Cranberries.  Mixed in their is a small amount of acidity and tartness that makes your nose sting just a tad.  In the end is a hint of malt and oak.  It’s just a very light smelling beer.  Heck if you can even call it a beer.  To me it’s more like a mixture of a beer and wine.

The taste came in three parts for me.  The first part was definitely tart and slightly funky on the palette.  As the ale hits the middle of your mouth it starts getting richer.  The cranberries start to really come in.  Mix that in with the oak and it’s a nice rich deep taste.  Then in the end the tartness comes back a tad mixed in with some bitterness.  Just a beautiful beer.  Mouthfeel is on the lighter side with the perfect amount of carbonation.  Just a joy to drink.  This beer blurs the line between a lambic and a wine for me.  It’s just amazing.  Pick it up soon folks, it’s a limited brew and might only be brewed once.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: No idea on this one
Website: http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
What the company says: A few times a year we will cut Dan loose to brew whatever he chooses, uncensored, uncut, unplugged. Always handcrafted, the bottle you hold is brewed for the adventurous soul. This is a very limited edition and we make no promises to ever brew this style again.

Sparkling and bright this is a Wisconsin original created for you in the traditional method employed by the Lambic Brewers of Belgium including five months of outdoor resting in oak barrels. Indigenous yeast and cranberries from the “wilds” of Wisconsin flawlessly pair to dance on your palette. You have discovered a rare and delightful treasure to be served cold in a fluted glass.
ABV%: 6.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: New Glarus Belgian Red, New Glarus Spotted Cow
Other beers to try within the same style: First time I’ve had a beer in this style
Rating: A